A Season's Worth of Angry Elves

Ok, I've been REALLY bad at getting updates posted. I'll easily admit it.

I've had multiple models painted since Adepticon but none of them have made it up here yet. So here we go with the Angry Elf Fall Update.

We begin with solos. Being able to put more time in individual models make them look a little bit nicer.

 

 Arcanists

Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt

 

Ghost Sniper

As Privateer Press calls her "The First Lady of the Retribution"

Eyriss, Mage Hunter of Ios

 A Destor Thane on a Motorcycle.

A Motorcycle? That can only mean...

 

 Epic Vyros. And a horse just isn't epic enough.

And how could eVyros be seen in public without his posse?

 

The Griffons. 

(back to front, left to right) Ressa, Rectified, Crobin,

Lugklash, Chross, Raindyn

 

The Aspis (Aspi? Aspisi?)

Fleshy and Attica

 

Last but not least we have the largest model I've painted to date. I'm still working on getting a good picture of him by itself, but we have my Hyperion (with a guest appearance by the Mountain King of Galaxy Comics)

Within the new few months we should hopefully be seeing House Shyeel Magisters, Magister solos, Mage Hunter Infiltrators and Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander showing up. All are in progress and just waiting for the final touches of paint.

Adepticon Warmachine Team Tournament

Paying the Mercenaries

Our theme idea was Irusk finds out about Zerkova's little projects and decides that to reduce conflict he is going to give Zerkova over to the nation of Ios for punishment of her crimes against them (and the Iosan gods). Sylys and Eiryss are the mercs that pass the word back, Ravyn comes to pick up the "payment."

Force Lists:

Kommandant Irusk
*Conquest
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr
Kayazi Assassins (full)
*Underboss

Ravyn, the Eternal Light
*Hyperion
Mage Hunter Strike Force (full)
*Mage Hunter Strike Force Commander
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

(Team photo. Left to right - Angry Elf Brewer, Hyperion, Conquest, Fluffy Bunny)

Round 1 - pDenny & pKrueger

Woldwrath
Beast I can't remember (was converted, arm kept falling off)
Shifting Stones with UA
Sentry Stone and Manikins

Bane Lord Tartarus
Bane Thralls with UA
Skarloc
2 bitey chicken jacks
Withershadow Combine

Turn 1 the enemy moved up as normal. Ravyn in turn pointed at the Strike Force for the classic Snipe Feat Go! A handful of the elves were still inaccurate enough that they missed and after 1 transfer Krueger was still left with 6 health remaining. Sometimes you just can't find good help. Fortunately the banes that ran up engaged the Kayazi instead of the Strike Force (I knew we brought the humans along for something) and they were able to stand still for aiming bonus and finish off the Warlock. However, before Krueger dropped, he did send in his Worldwrath for the first 120mm vs 120mm base melee I've been able to see. Sadly it did not go well for the Conquest.

Conquest was wrecked between the Worldwrath and a few banes in the later turns. Other notable events in the game (as I don't recall everything that happened):
Conquest, before dying, nailed the WSC with an aoe taking out 2 of the 3. Also backhanded a Bonejack on a freestrike killing it with one shot.
The Kayazi and Strike Force scrum up with the Bane Thralls for a turn or two.
Irusk ends up charging up to take out Tartarus, fails to clear the zone for a Domination point. (The same turn Ravyn DID clear her zone for a point on the other half of the table.)
Hyperion manages to take out the Bane Thrall Standard - no more tough for you!
Denny swings over to the zone Irusk is in and jams it up - eventually killing the Khadoran commander.
Sylys hides at the back of the left zone, on a hill, with his toe just in the Conquest wreck marker to contest the left zone and keep the game going.
Ravyn fires up her Vortex of Destruction and slice and dices her way through 7 Bane thralls and 3 Standing Stones to clear her zone over 2 turns to score the 5th Control Point with less than 1 minute on the death clock.

Record: 1-0

Round 2 - eSorcha & Siege

Stormwall
2x Stormcaller Stormsmith
eEiryss
Ogrun Bokur
Reinholdt
Squire

Winterguard (full) with 3 rockets, UA
Winterguard Joe
Gorman
Sylys
Aiyanna & Master Holt

Sadly I forgot to take any pictures at all during the game. I have a feeling this is because of how depressed I was after turn 1. Again with a listing of game highlights:
Opponents win first turn, march right up the board.
Do I see that right? Sorcha right in front of the Strike Force walked right into snipe range? S.F.G. right off the bat for the early kill! Wait, what? Five of the Strike Force missed? We left Sorcha on 6 health? Blarg. The Strike Force are getting closer and closer to being fired...
Well, I didn't need to fire them, as the Winter Guard Deathstar did that for me. Joe says boosted attacks, and all of the Strike Force are wiped off the table along with Eiryss.
Stormwall shoots a little at Conquest. Conquest shoots back when not killing the other Eiryss, Stormcallers, or Winterguard. Neither takes much damage.
Hyperion gets his only Critical Consume of the day on the Winterguard, obliterating 5 of them with one shot, and then killing another 3 or 4 with the strafing hand cannons.

Knowing we had to do something to avoid the double feat kill turn, Hyperion gets Snipe and lands a POW 18 hit on Siege (killing the squire and Aiyanna at the same time) dropping him to 6 or 8 health. Irusk charges Siege from 16 inches away or so. The shot from his assult drops the Cygnar Warcaster.
Leaving Irusk out in the middle of the field, Sorcha knew she had to do something now or we could back him up and slowly grind her down with 2 fully functional Colossals. She popped feat, made it to Irusk on the charge and chopped his head off (24 damage I think?) with one shot (down to 3 focus). She casts her 2 cost spell to get in range of Ravyn (I probably should have kept her back further) and is down to 1 focus. She needs an 8 to hit, does she boost to hit or damage? She boosts to hit, and misses. Ravyn puts Sorcha out of her misery.

Doing the math after the game - Ravyn had 3 focus on her which would have put the damage roll for Sorcha at dice minus 6 (if I'm remembering all the numbers right). Needing to do 16 damage, that would be a 14 on damage to get the kill. Last I checked, you can't roll a 14 on 2d6. Boosting damage would have been the only way for them to get the win. Oh well. I could also be missing something here in the math.

Record: 2-0

Round 3 - Ashlynn & Ryas

Scythean
Angelus
Nephilim Protector
Shredder
Forsaken
Swamp Gobbers
Shepard
Succubus

Galleon
Gorman
Aiyanna and Holt
Piper of Ord
5 Points I can't find in the picture, or remember

For some reason, my compatriot Fluffy Bunny talks me into doing a S.F.G. on turn one (again, opponents won first turn). I told him no - Ryas is too far out, I'll only get 4 or 5 within range. "No, you'll be fine, you have plenty of range!" he says. Against my better judgement I do what he asks. Oh look there. Only 5 in range. Ping her down to 10 damage left. Everything else in range is either stealth, or something they can't really do much to. They end up hitting Galleon for inconsequential damage.

They then go for their Uber Combo Feat Turn and try to take out Irusk. I believe the combination was something like this: Angelus Slipstreams Ryas, Ryas Slipstreams Scythean, pops feat and then charges to get further up. Ashlynn moves up and pops feat giving a double fake boost for the coming attacks. Scythean then charges a Kayazi, hits after dropping 2 lowest dice, uses Ryas' feat to place on the other side of the Kayazi and get in range of Irusk. This would have worked wonderfully except for 2 things: Irusk is behind a wall, and had Iron Flesh up on himself. Defense 21, even when you have double fake boost, is not all that easy to hit. Only 1 hit lands dealing about 8 damage to the Khadoran, and that's their turn.

Well, look at that. Ryas is sitting on a hill in front of almost a full unit of Kayazi who get Battle Lusted, Irusk Feated for +2 MAT, then Kayazi surround Ryas. Even with the double negative fake boost, MAT 11 from Irusk's Feat and Gang is enough to get the hits on Ryas and she drops.

Hyperion was trying to engage Galleon but kept getting black oiled by Gorman. Hyperion then is able to get into melee with Gorman, no ranged attack for you, but then Galleon is able to come across Hype's side and JUST get in range of Ravyn (stupid killbox). Ravyn takes the first shot like a champ, but the second is enough to put her down.

At this point the game isn't looking too good for either side, sort of even, no clear frontrunner. We see a lane though, and figure "Hey, why not? Stranger things have worked for us before." Irusk is in range of moving up and taking a ranged attack at Ashlynn, and we have some Kayazi that could get Battle Lusted and charge her as well (we think - it would have been close on threat range). Doing the odds of what we need to roll for damage (Ashlynn was down to about 8 health left? I think the Strike Force got some hits on her earlier that I forgot about) we actually decide that the best attack method is not 2 shots from Irusk's gun, but casting Grind. Yep, you read that right. Grind. Even one of the judges from PP had to pick up Irusk's spell card and look up "WTF is Grind?" This is maybe the 3rd time EVER that Fluffy Bunny is using this spell, and Irusk is one of his main Warcasters.

Sylys whispers some dirty secrets into Irusk's ear, and then Irusk walks up to just within range, boost and fake boost to hit, boost and fake boost to damage - BAM! Take 9. Ashlynn is killed by Irusk Grinding her. (Innuendo lasted the rest of the night, and we heard people talking about the kill shot 4 hours later still.)

(A dramatic recreation of Irusk trying to grind on Ashlynn)

Record: 3-0 (now in the Top 4)

Sidenote: At this point Irusk has personally taken down 2 'casters (Siege and Ashlynn) and the Kayazi had taken Ryas. The Elves had only taken Krueger (Strike Force) and Sorcha (Ravyn). The Angry Elves were starting to look bad, and needed to do something to restore their reputation.

Round 4 - pGrim Angus & eCaine

Impaler
Pyre Troll
Champions (full) with Skaldi Bonehammer
Krielstone Bearer (min)
Chronicler
Janessa

Ol' Rowdy
Squire
Black 13th
Gun Mages
Reinholdt
Journeyman Warcaster
Gorman
Stormsmith Stormcaller
2 Points I can't find in pictures or remember.

First turn Caine of course doesn't move up far enough to get in range of the Strike Force. (Bah, the silly humans can learn...) So a handful of Strike Force members get dropped on the opponent's turn 2 by the Gun Mages, and there's only 5 of them left for S.F.G. against Caine. They are able to drop him down to about 5. That's 0/4 on the Strike Force during Feat turns (though game 3 shouldn't really count) for those keeping score at home.

The Arcane Shielded, Krielstone Aura'ed Champion brick lumbers to midfield and starts a giant slapfight with the Kayazi. The Trolls can't hit the Ironfleshed Kayazi, the Kayazi can't break the Champ's armor. Caine pops his feat and unloads into Hyperion trying to take one of the Colossals down. Caine manages to get Hyperion down to about 10 boxes left - a Sniped Impaler throw and the Black 13th later my Hyperion is pulled from the table.

In a fit of outrage over how they've done all game, the 2 remaining Strike Force members activate. One walks over to Ol' Rowdy and smacks him in the face for a few points. The other, the only one that's unengaged, looks up at Caine standing on a hill. "Defense 19? We haven't done our job so far? Watch this!" Box cars to hit. Box cars on damage. This member of the Strike Force is being renamed Doc Holiday.

Ravyn moves up to the right flag to get a few Control Points, but a lucky crit from the Impaler followed by the remainder of the Cygnar shooting is able to barely drop Ravyn out of the game. We notice that our opponents are down pretty low on their deathclock and we have a choice to make. We have a weak assassination run on Grim. We could in theory get 2, MAYBE 3 Kayazi on him, possibly a shot with Conquest. However he was sitting on 3 or 4 fury for transfers, and if we went for it we would pretty much be all or nothing on it. Nothing would be stopping the trolls from taking the control point to the right, or going straight for Irusk and the kill. We decide to "play it safe" and try to jam up as many models of theirs as we can. They start their turn with under 5 minutes remaining on their clock, somehow manage to take out 2 Kayazi to make a small hole for Grim to then run out of the scrum, book it over to the right flag and score the last 2 points for the win.

Record: 3-1

'Caster kill Tally: Khador 3, Scyrah 3.
(I.M.O. Elves win the tie breaker with the double boxcar kill on Caine, but an argument could be made for Irusk Grinding Ashlynn taking the lead for humor.)

The other 4-0 team that Grim/eCaine then faced was pDenny/pSkarre infantry spam. I have a feeling S.F.G. was ready to drop Skarre (Doc finally showed them how to do it), and then we just start dropping pieplates into the swathes of infantry. It would have been interesting. I read on the forums that the Cryx team ended up deathclocking themselves for the loss. So much infantry, not enough time to move them against the super armor brick. Would the Def 19 Kayazi have been able to jam as well? The world may never know.

(So much infantry on the final table...)

Looking at placements, I have yet to find an official finish order. However the other team that lost in round 4 that was 3-0 going into that round had been paired down already earlier in the event. That should have given us the tiebreaker over them for Strength of Schedule. Depending on how our opponents did the rest of the event, (along with opponents of the other teams in question) Fluffy and I probably ended up somewhere between 4th and 2nd. (2nd would have taken some bad S.o.S. for the Cryx team though.) I'm confident in assuming 3rd. Whatever it was though, it was a fun day. Maybe the new Privateer Press dice I earned with my Iron Arena points will help the Strike Force with killing things.

Double Shot of Brewing!

Just in case you forgot, this is also a cooking and brewing blog. I know, I know, there's been a little bit of meat log so far, and everything else has been tabletop gaming. (Still working on the write up for the Adepticon Warmachine Team Tourney...) BUT I do other things as well, and here's proof of it. Father of AngryElfBrewing came over yesterday morning and we brewed up a crazy idea he has. Wanting to make sure I could make use of the bonus labor when we have papa out for bottling... I figured it was a great time to start my next batch as well.

If you think a kitchen smells like a brewery after 1 batch... woofda after two in one day...

 

(10 gallons of goodness fermenting happily)

 Papa's English Brown Maple Ale

20 minute grain steep:

8oz Caramel 60L

4oz Chocolate

6oz Carapils

 

3.3lb Amber LME

2lb Amber DME

2.5oz Willamette Hops

(4.9 alpha, 3.5 beta)

1oz at 60min

1oz at 15min

0.5oz at 5min

 11g Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast (dry)

2 tsp of Irish Moss added for clarity at 15 minutes remaining.

Instead of water,  3.5 gallons of raw Maple Sap was used for the boil.

After the boil we had JUST under 3 gallons, added 2 gallons of spring water.

Starting gravity was 1.050. 

At the 24 hour mark we already have 120+ bubbles/min out of the airlock.

Angry Elf's Honey Saison

(Recipe from Angry Elf's Brother)

30 minute grain steep:

8oz Honey Malt

8oz Munich

6lb Pilsen LME

2oz US Saaz Hops

(8.1alpha, 4.3 beta)

1oz at 60min

0.5oz at 30min

0.5oz at 15min

1 activator pouch Wyeast 3711 French Saison

2 tsp of Irish Moss added for clarity at 15 minutes remaining.

Total of 5 gallons reverse osmosis distilled water was used.

Ending volume again JUST shy of 5 gallons.

2 tsp of Wyeast wine nutrient blend used to put minerals in water.

Starting gravity was 1.040.

After 10 hours we are getting about 8-10 bubbles/min out of the airlock.

Adepticon Warhammer Fantasy Team Tournament

AKA Pestilence is the Bestilence (Plague Monks and Nurgle Chaos Warriors)

Our army lists:

Warriors of Chaos

Chaos Sorcerer, Mark of Nurgle, Level 2 wizard, Chaos Familiar, Talisman of Preservation, Ironcurse Icon.
21 Chaos Warriors, Full command, Shields, Mark of Nurgle, Standard of Discipline
15 Chosen Warriors, Full command, Shields, Mark of Nurgle
3 Dragon(rat) Ogres

Skaven

Plague Priest, Level 2 wizard, Warplock Pistol, Talisman of Protection, Dispel Scroll
Warlock Engineer, Doomrocket
34 Stormvermin, Full command, Shields, Gleaming Pennant, Poisoned Wind Mortar
24 Skavenslaves, Musician, Shields
20 Plague Monks, Full command, Plague Banner
6 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Weapons, Extra Hand Weapons
Doomwheel
Warp Lightning Cannon

A few pictures of our armies and the display board:

 

Round 1 - Ogre Kingdoms & Dark Elves

Firebelly, Sword of Swift Slaying, Level 2 wizard, Lore of Fire
5 Ironguts, Standard, Musician, Standard of Discipline
11 Leadbelchers, Musician
10 Gnoblars
3x Sabertusk (single model units)
Ironblaster

Sorceress, Level 2 wizard, Dispel Scroll, Guiding Eye, Lore of Metal
Noble, BSB, Banner of Eternal Flame
35 Repeater Crossbowmen, Musician, Standard
5 Harpies
5 Harpies
3x Reaper Bolt Thrower
5 Shades

Mission: There's a 18" square zone marked in the middle of the board. At the end of the game if you have units of Core Troops and your Generals in the box you score bonus Battle Points.

The battle lines form up with a lot of Ogres staring at us, but we charge forward none the less. If they're bigger that means there's just that much room for plague to corrupt them. Turn one saw their Ironblaster 1-shot my Doomwheel. My Warp Lighting Cannon got revenge by 1-shotting their Ironblaster in the bottom half of the turn.

A look down the battle line of the enemy.

Call me crazy if you want, but units of 1 model as a core troop used as nothing but charge redirectors is possibly one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. I don't blame the players. I blame GW for making such stupidness to begin with.

The massed fire from all of the Leadbelchers and the repeater crossbows was too much to handle for the warriors. Reduced to just 1 model and the Sorcerer they decided not to charge in. The Stormvermin and Plague Priest were smart enough to use the Chaos allies as pawns to protect them.

In the end we had both of the wizards in range of their Sorceress/BSB/Archer unit. We successfully reduced their toughness to 2. I attempt to plague them which should have killed most if not all - needed an 11 on 3 dice. Rolled the 10. Fluffy Bunny tried his spell do d6 str 5 hits, over and over if they failed Toughness checks. He missed by 2. We lose by a relatively small margin. Having 2 Core units and both Generals in the scoring box though gives us 12 Battle Points, which is almost the points of a Draw.

Round 2 - Warriors of Chaos & Lizardmen - Chumphammer

Exalted Hero of Tzeentch, Disc of Tzeentch, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Foolhardiness, Third Eye of Tzeentch
20 Chaos Warriors, Musician, Standard, Mark of Nurgle, Great Weapons, Gleaming Pennant
5 Marauder Horseman, Mark of Slaneesh
2x Chariot, Mark of Slaneesh
3 Skullcrushers of Khorne, Musician, Standard, Standard of Discipline

Saurus Scar Veteran, BSB, Charmed Shield, Cold One, Dawnstone, Light Armor, Sword of Might
Skink Priest, Level 2 Wizard, Plaque of Tepok
10 Saurus Warriors, Standard
3x 10 Skink Skirmishers, Javelin and Shield
20 Temple Guard, Musician, Standard, Razor Standard
2x Salamander Hunting Pack

Mission: Singing Forest. There's a dangerous terrain forest in the middle of the table. At end of game if you have more models in it than the opponent you get bonuses to your victory points.

Both armies started rushing together to get to some melee hack and slash action.

The initial shot from the Doomrocket landed right between the Skullcrushers and the Warriors. Took out 8 warriors in the first blow of the game. The first shot from the Mortar took out 4 of the 5 Marauder Horseman. Skaven shooting at it's finest. (We'll forget about the Warp Lightning Cannon's misfire, as that rolled a 6 and didn't have catastrophic effects.)

Their Champion of Tzeentch charged the Dragon(rat) Ogres along with the Templeguard. Sadly, the Templeguard failed their charge roll. A 3+ ward save? Reroll 1's? "I'm safe" he says. Then rolls triple 2's for ward saves... Still one of the prettiest combats we had all day.

In the following turn, the Dragon(rat) Ogres and the Plague Monks combine to wipe the timid Templeguard off the table. Plague Banner HO!

The left side melees begin. Skullcrushers verses the Stormvermin. They will roll 1's eventually. I'm sure of it. Question is do I have enough rats to get to the 1's? And the Chosen hold against a double chariot charge like champs. (See what I did there?) To the far left (not pictured) the Slaves charge through and destroy a unit of skinks (losing the Engineer to a javelin in the process). The Slaves eventually break and run from shooting, but are still on the table at the end of the game.

The game is going well. A strength 2 Warp Lightning shot wings the Skink Shaman and takes him out. The Tzeentch Champion has been run down along with the Templeguard. The game looks to be all but in the bag for the forces of disease. As a few last spells are tossed out to speed up the inevitable... what is this? The Plague Priest miscasts! Dimensional Cascade! The Horror!

I didn't have the heart to take another picture, but not 30 seconds after the Plague Priest blows himself into the warp, along with all but 3 of his bodyguard, the Chaos Sorcerer winds up a spell. And miscasts... And ANOTHER DIMENSIONAL CASCADE!!! In order, that's boxcars, snake eyes, boxcars, snake eyes. The Chaos Sorcerer also gets pulled into the warp along with most of the warriors of his bodyguard. These 4 sequential dice rolls cost us over 400 points in the two characters, 200 points in general kills, about 500 points in unit losses for the bodyguard units, and stopped us from killing the enemy Skullcrushers for over 250 points. Oh, and it allowed the Chumphammer boys to get the forest controlled for a bonus 400 points or so. In effect, roughly a 1750 point swing.

Dice... Hate... Us...

Round 3 - Tomb Kings & Vampire Counts - Lincoln and Josh

Necromancer, Level 2 wizard
45 Zombies
50 Zombies, Musician, Standard
50 Skeletons, Full command, Flaming Banner
50 Ghouls, Champion

Liche Priest
25 Skeleton Archers, Standard
25 Skeleton Archers, Standard
30 Skeleton Warriors, Standard, Champion
Khemrian Warsphinx
2x Casket of Souls
2x Tomb Scorpions

The Warp lightning cannon never did too much this game. Two shots at the Caskets before they leadership test the cannon to death. Both shots roll short and do no damage. Confounded 2's!

The Doomwheel appears to be taking care of these undead scum nicely... until it misfires and deals 4 wounds to itself. Did I mention the dice hate us?

At 5:45pm, in a show of team unity with ASSUME THE POSITION Trivia team up in Stevens Point, Wi, participating in the world's largest Trivia contest, we all join in (4 minutes early, but that's pretty close) with the rest of the team in a group shot of Kessler. Our opponents join in with us. (with water chasers? really?)

Just the way the game was going, and how congenial the game was... The bottle didn't last the next 2 game turns. Three rounds total polished it off and we were all feeling a bit better.

In the end, highlights of game 3 include the Chosen Champion winning 2 challenges, and along with the initial start of game "Eye of the Gods" effect, got boosted up to Toughness 7. Gutter Runners make their first entrance by reserves and blast a Casket for 5 wounds - which promptly makes 2 of it's 6+ saves and then turns and blasts them into oblivion. Over 75% of the enemy models were dead, but due to current scoring mechanics, no points are scored unless entire units are wiped. Rather difficult to do to such large blocks of undead. We end up losing by quite a bit.

And just to add insult to injury, the final dice roll of the game is a check to see if the Plague Priest and his Stormvermin can escape being run down. They fail by 1. These dice are so completely fired.

Display board is done!

A pair of shots with models on the finished display board. With 1 day to spare. Well, sort of. The event isn't until Friday, but tomorrow is driving and I didn't want things drying on the drive down. (That makes for bad smells in the car.)

First up, the close up of the "scenery" piece for warmachine. "Payment" being made to appease the Angry Elves. This is what you get Zerkova, for trying to experiment on an elven god.

And then we have the entire Fantasy army combined up for a group shot. A few models are drying for their flock, but everything is finally painted and set up. We're hoping for a score of around 21-23 out of 25 for presentation.

Display board construction part II

Flock and trim are both done. Gravel flock has been ink washed. And in the second picture we're over halfway done setting up the wood work for the elevator shaft and wall supports. Well, wall supports are done, but those were simple.

 

Start of the Display board for Adepticon

Lots of pictures. If they aren't that self explanatory ask and I'll tell you what's going on in each step.